Editor's Note: This post has been updated with new links and content.
Original Publication Date: June 28, 2019
Let's say you're planning a night out. You wouldn't hit the bars by yourself on a Friday night to pick up a beautiful lady. You would call up your buddy to be your trusty wingman.
Believe it or not, the same principle applies to eCommerce marketing. You can use The Wingman Method to sell more of your best products.
Criteria for The Wingman Method
There are certain criteria that a wingman has to meet. One of these is that they must be slightly less attractive than you.
What is the reason for this?
Well, if a girl sees the two of you at a bar, you are the natural choice based on looks alone. (We're sure your friend has a great personality though.)
With this same concept, you can use the Wingman Method to get your customer to purchase a product with a higher average order value (AOV).
The Psychology Behind the Wingman Method
In his book, Predictably Irrational, Dr. Dan Ariely describes several cognitive, subconscious behaviors that we don't even realize that we have.
For example, here is a snippet from the book. "Why do our headaches persist after we take a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a fifty-cent aspirin? Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup? When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think we're making smart, rational choices. But are we?"
One of the studies mentioned in the book is the psychological choice that we make when choosing between two options. The study found that when given two options, people weigh their choices rationally and choose the option that best fits their needs.
When you introduce a third option, however, things go a little differently.
Three Options
Add in a third option that you're not necessarily trying to sell, but as more of a decoy.
You place this decoy item between the two other items you're looking to sell and price it slightly below your higher-valued item. When people see the three items laid out in this order, they automatically perceive the highest-priced item as having more value. The layout should look like this.
Product A: $18.99
Product B (decoy): $31.99
Product C: $34.99
This is happening all around us, every day.
At the movie theater, they make the medium popcorn only $0.50 less than a large popcorn, so of course, you're going to order the large.
Digital subscriptions generally have an option that is slightly cheaper than the "premium" option but is going to have almost all of the same features as the premium one.
Time To Wing It
Apple truly mastered this method years ago by introducing different gigabytes of storage on its products and increasing the price for the higher storage capacities.
It is happening all around us and you can implement it too. Take a look at your products and see if there is a product you can stick in the middle of your featured products to increase your AOV.
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